by Laura L. Garcia

About the author: Laura L. Garcia is a professor of philosophy at Boston College.

We are faced with two facts: globalization is here to stay and its effects on the family have been largely negative. I wish to focus on the ways in which a particular ideology regarding human nature and human rights tends to undermine the family, even in its efforts to help. A more accurate understanding of the foundation of human rights and the human good can, in principle, redirect current efforts at social control in ways that are more family-friendly and that better preserve human dignity. I focus here especially on policies aimed at reducing population growth in developing countries and the number of pregnancies among unmarried women in...